Civil Servants have come out guns blazing after their salaries were eroded even before they made their way to the bank as it coincided with a major escalation of the prices of basic commodities which saw the price of a loaf of bread selling at $3.50.
Government increased civil servants income by 29% in the hope of cushioning the living conditions of employees but the situation on the ground is a complete negation of government’s intent.
A majority of civil servants who spoke to Zim Morning Post on condition that their details should not be published said the 29% was just a drop in the ocean and out of sync with reality of the prices of goods.
“This is an insult to us, there is no any increment to talk about, this is a drop in the ocean, this will not change anything at all in as far as our living conditions are concerned” said a member of the army who refused to be named.
Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) Secretary General Robson Chere said from the onset he was not agreeable with the figures reached and preferred United States Dollar salaries.
“How can I smile when I know that I am going to get peanuts from that bank, we are very clear on our position, we want our salaries in US Dollars, these funny and mocking increments will not take us anyway,” said Chere.
Chere added that the government must be a catalyst for its citizens’ decent life.
“We just need to live a decent life as civil servants, we are very patriotic and love to serve our country but it pains us that our take home salary can not even take us home as transport costs keep rising,today we woke up to the shock of our lives bread price has increased to $3.50,” added Chere.
Civil Servants in the education sector are set to get their salaries tomorrow while others will get their monthly dues on April 24 and and April 26.
According to ZimStat, under the new base, prices as measured by the all items CPI (consumer price index) increased by an average of 66,80% between March 2018 and March 2019.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation prone to transitory shocks stood at 78,55%, while the non-food inflation rate was 61,19%.
ZimStat further states that month-on-month calculations, the inflation rate was 4,38%, gaining 2,71% points on the February 2019 rate of 1,67%.
The month-on-month food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation rate stood at 5,10% in March 2019, gaining 1,54 percentage points on the February 2019 rate of 3,56%, while non-food inflation rate stood at 4,05%, gaining 3,35 percentage points on the February 2019 rate of 0,70%.
However, Zimstats’ figures are not in tandem with the prices on supermarket shelves.